PSYC 3100

I found this class extremely difficult, and WOULD NOT recommend taking it unless you are a neuroscience or behavioral neuro major, I made the mistake of taking it as a Psych elective. I really wanted to like this class: Williams as an instructor was engaging and I enjoyed the content, but I found myself so stressed about my performance in the class that I found it difficult to appreciate. Even when I understood the material conceptually, the exams were exceedingly difficult: mostly based on memorizing specific aspects of studies or random things on the slides. Each exam was 25%, and Williams curved based on the top score (which meant 3/4 of my exams were uncurved). I don't know exactly what I could've done better to succeed in the class; I devoted hours to studying and it didn't have much effect on my exam performance.

Psych department said Neuro, Professor Williams said NeurNoooooo, well except the 5 minutes he actually taught stuff directly related to Neuro itself. He emphasized the learning part in the title not the Neuroscience one unfortunately.

Prof Williams’ class was simply a nightmare! He taught us how learning and memory worked on the animal and human brain but ironically didn't apply any of that into the actual way he was teaching. I used to respect him so much for the research he does, but was extremely dissatisfied with the way he taught, since it was only accommodating to extremely visual learners (prepare yourself for many, MANY diagrams). He has 4 exams (final is cumulative), all weighing 25% of the final grade, and though he does curve exams, its not much. If I remember correctly, nearly half of the class got a C or below in the 3rd exam and he actually got mad at us. Office hours were somewhat hostile and he takes a couple days to respond to emails. I know he is what people consider an “old school” professor, I was disappointed on how a psychology professor who literally specializes on learning made class so needlessly hard. With that being said, the class material is interesting and important to know.

I really enjoyed Prof Williams as a lecturer, but the exams were honesty a nightmare. The questions were confusing, poorly worded, and occasionally had poor grammar. I did well on first one, but got a B or B- on the other two midterms and MAYBE an 87 or 88 on the final (I can't exactly remember and for some reason can't see the course page on canvas). Furthermore, the final grade came entirely from the exams. The class was curved so that I somehow ended up with an A-, and I don't really know what I could have done differently to perform better on the exams. Like I said, I enjoyed Prof Williams as a lecturer and felt like I understood the content, I just don't think the exams were a good test of my knowledge. Perhaps if I studied more in detail (because some of the questions are incredibly specific while others are more conceptual), I could have done slightly better. Overall, out of the options for the "advanced topics" requirement for behavioral neuroscience, I would still recommend this class since you need two, and all of the options seem at least equally difficult. In summary: I like Prof Williams and did enjoy the content, just be wary of the exams, and maybe go to office hours more than I did (which was never).

Finished with an A- in the class and definitely feel that I could have done better if I had put in more effort. If you are willing to put in the time, Professor Williams does give you everything you need to succeed in this class. Definitely would recommend taking the time to do the review guides for each lecture before exams (I did not, and many of the questions I missed were things that I would have known would be on the exam if I had completed the review guides. They also tell you exactly what from the textbook not mentioned in lecture will be on the exam). The lectures I found pretty boring and very hard to stay focused during. Professor Williams phrases things a bit weirdly sometimes, and uses punctuation and grammar in his own way to emphasize certain points, but for me this made things harder to understand/follow at times. Overall, probably not a class you'll fall in love with, but not bad to take if you need it as an elective. #tCFF23

The worst class I've ever taken in my life. The grading was 4 exams all worth 25% each. The exams were so detailed. There was so much information and the PowerPoints were so confusing to follow. DO NOT take this class unless you really have to. Did not enjoy this class one bit, so glad it is over.